Mr. LIND. Because I gave it to Mr. Browning, and I said I could not recollect whether he gave it back to me or not, because he was desirous to take it with him. I gave him several letters.

Mr. DONOVAN. Then, is it your best judgment now that Mr. Browning has ever returned that letter to you?

Mr. LIND. I can not give you a definite answer to that.

Mr. DONOVAN. Is it then your best judgment that he has not, that he has returned it to you, and you have forgotten it?

Mr. LIND. It might be.

Mr. DONOVAN. You have no definite recollection on that matter at all?

Mr. LIND. No, sir.

Mr. DONOVAN. It has been suggested to me by one of my colleagues on the committee that I do not recall this and if it is not so just say so, and if it is so you will, of course, admit it-that you also gave Mr. Browning several other letters that have bearing on this subject? Mr. LIND. I gave him several other letters pertaining to the Federal board.

Mr. DONOVAN. Are any of those letters which you now have here possibly part of those letters that you had thought you gave to Mr. Browning?

Mr. LIND. Not with the exception of one dated March 10.

Mr. DONOVAN. Then, in other words, you can now state positively that all other letters have been returned to you with the exception of one in which you claim you thought you were invited to accept training under section 2 and that you have no memory or recollection definitely at all.

Mr. LIND. Yes, sir.

Mr. KING. You say you were a furniture polisher?

Mr. LIND. A wood polisher.

Mr. KING. When you went into the war? When you came back from the war-this is merely a matter of historical interest-they actually refused to employ you again?

Mr. LIND. Yes, sir.

Mr. KING. What reason did he give?

Mr. LIND. He told me that I was not in good health and needed to go away.

Mr. KING. Did he offer to assist you materially, financially, to get away?

Mr. LIND. He did not, sir.

Mr. KING. For the benefit of history, I would like to know the name and address of that patrioteer?

Mr. LIND. William DeMuth & Co. There was a superintendent there before I left, and when I came back there was a new man in charge as superintendent. I do not know his name. His name was not given to me, but I can identify him by his face.

Mr. KING. You remember his face?

Mr. LIND. Yes.

Mr. KING. What is the name and address of that firm?
Mr. LIND. It is Park Avenue, Richmond Hill, Long Island.

Mr. KING. You made a statement that interested me. You stated that when you went up to the office in New York you put in four hours and a half waiting for somebody to attend to your wants, and while there you observed how they ran the business, and you said there were men there who were not competent to take care of

the people. Would you explain that more in detail what your observation was that led you to that conclusion? How were they handling things there?

Mr. LIND. A person would go in to register. He would register. They would take the number of every man that goes in and your name and ask if you were ever there before. Then they tell you to sit down until they call your case, your number, and when they call for the number, it would be probably three hours or four, or perhaps more. Then while I was waiting for my turn to be called, I could see fellows that were called and go up; instead of having a man there competent to register men, they had somebody there half the time who was leaving his desk and would walk up and around and go out to see somebody and there would be nobody there.

Mr. KING. At the desk?

Mr. LIND. No, sir.

Mr. KING. Was it a woman or a man at the desk?

Mr. LIND. Man out there and part of the time a woman.

Mr. KING. Where did he go from the desk?

Mr. LIND. I could not say where he went, but he would get up and walk over from the desk and come back probably in 10 or 20 minutes or later.

Mr. KING. Do you know whether they were attending to section 2 men on that date exclusively or not?

Mr. LIND. I could not say which men they were attending to.

Mr. KING. Did you see any of the other operations in the office there except that performed by these men who did not attend to business there at the desk?

Mr. LIND. I could not see from my place what was going on there. Mr. KING. Did you hear comments made up there by other young men in there?

Mr. LIND. I heard comments.

Mr. KING. What did they say?

Mr. LIND. The same as I have said, that they did not have any competency there.

Mr. KING. Those were the words they used, lack of competency? Mr. LIND. Yes, sir.

Mr. ROBSION. Where were you born, Mr. Lind?

Mr. LIND. In Brooklyn, sir.

Mr. ROBSION. Did I understand you to say that you were in high school before you went into the service?

Mr. LIND. I said I started to go into high school in the evening. Mr. ROBSION. Did I understand you to say that you quit school to enter the service?

Mr. LIND. I did, sir. I quit going to high school in the evening. I enlisted June 4, 1917, was discharged June 28, 1919.

Mr. ROBSION. Did you leave school to enter the service?

Mr. LIND. I left the evening school to enter the service.

Mr. ROBSION. And in the service you have lost the entire use of your left ear for hearing?

Mr. LIND. Yes, sir.

Mr. ROBSION. And you tell the committee that from a recent examination your right ear is also affected?

Mr. LIND. I stated from what I heard the doctors say Saturday. I have the diagnosis with me.

Mr. ROBSION. What opinion did he express, if any, as to whether this would develop in the right ear and become worse?

Mr. LIND. He just said it was bilateral the same as in the left ear. Mr. ROBSION. Before you entered the service, at your work in polishing wood, you could earn about $18 a week, is that true? Mr. LIND. I could, sir.

Mr. ROBSION. What would that service pay now under the new conditions?

sir.

Mr. LIND. I can not stand the noise, sir.

Mr. ROBSION. What would it pay for that kind of work now?

Mr. LIND. I do not know what they are getting at the present time,

Mr. ROBSION. You say you did accept some employment because of the fact that you had to take some employment to make a living for yourself and mother?

Mr. LIND. Yes, sir.

Mr. ROBSION. Is your father living?

Mr. LIND. Yes, sir; but I do not know where he is.

Mr. ROBSION. You are the support of your mother, are you?

Mr. LIND. I am not living with my mother.

Mr. ROBSION. Do you support her?

Mr. LIND. I contribute to her to the best of my means.

Mr. ROBSION. What is the charge or complaint that you make against the board.

Mr. LIND. Neglect of duty.

Mr. ROBSION. Do you understand that the board would be authorized under law to give you training under section 2?

Mr. LIND. I do not quite understand.

Mr. ROBSION. Do you understand that the law would permit the board to give you training under section 2 under your present rating of disability?

Mr. LIND. The thing with me was that it was never told to me that I could appeal to the board in Washington or that I could appeal my case to anyone, to the Congressman of my district. It was never put before me that I could appeal my case.

Mr. ROBSION. I do not believe you have answered my question. Has anyone advised you or do you understand the law to be such that the board is authorized or would be permitted to give you training under section 2?

Mr. LIND. I understand to be that, sir.

Mr. ROBSION. And then if they are not authorized or permitted under the law, as it passed Congress, to do that, then you have got a wrong idea about that part of it, have you not?

Mr. LIND. Yes, sir; I beg your pardon. I understand every man that receives 10 per cent disability is entitled to vocational training. Mr. ROBSION. If you are wrong in your conception of the law? Mr. LIND. They have been authorized through the act of Congress. Mr. ROBSION. As far as I am concerned I feel then, that this great Government did you volunteer into the service; did you? Mr. LIND. I did; I enlisted when I was 20 years old.

Mr. ROBSION. You lost your hearing, and have your hearing impaired. I think you ought to have training. That is the way I feel about it. The question is: Is the board authorized to give you the training with pay as provided by section 2 as the law is at present?

Mr. LIND. Under the Federal act they have been authorized to give a man training who has not received compensation. The Federal act says so, and there were lectures given on it.

Mr. ROBSION. You tell the committee that you can not pursue or follow your usual work before you entered the service, because of this injury you received in the service. Is that true?

Mr. LIND. Yes; because my former employers refused to take me back.

Mr. ROBSION. Have you tried the experiment to close your right ear and see if you could hear anything at all?

Mr. LIND. I have tried it before the doctors and it does not work. I can not now, sir.

Mr. ROBSION. You can not hear anything with the left?

Mr. LIND. The doctors that examined me can vouch for it.

Mr. ROBSION. How is your health otherwise? You spoke about nervousness?

Mr. LIND. I am nervous.

Mr. ROBSION. It is due to your injury in the service?

Mr. LIND. It is not only due to the injury, but I had several operations while I was in the service.

Mr. ROBSION. Were they other than for the ear?

Mr. LIND. Yes, sir.

Mr. ROBSION. What are the others.

Mr. LIND. Hemorrhoids, appendix, and tonsilitis, and other sickness while I was in the service.

Mr. ROBSION. Were you in several engagements?

Mr. LIND. I was in at least three or four or five.

Mr. ROBSION. You spoke about the shell which passed near your head?

Mr. LIND. It did not burst very far away.

Mr. ROBSION. Did the doctor tell you that it caused this injury to your ear?

Mr. LIND. Their examination proved it did.

Mr. ROBSION. Were you rendered unconscious at the time or knocked down?

Mr. LIND. I was stunned; not rendered unconscious.

Mr. ROBSION. How long were you in the hospital?

Mr. LIND. I was in the hospital from September up to the time I was sent back until I landed back here.

Mr. ROBSION. You feel that the board should have advised you sooner that you could not get training under section 2?

Mr. LIND. I do not agree with you, sir.

Mr. REED. When you went into the office, the first man whom you met was the man with whom you registered?

Mr. LIND. Yes, sir.

Mr. REED. Was he kind and considerate and took an interest in you at all?

Mr. LIND. No, sir; that he did not.

Mr. REED. What did he do that way?

Mr. LIND. He told me to stand in line, take your time, get in line, and take your turn. I did not think that was courteous.

Mr. REED. That is what we are getting at. Who was the next person you saw?

Mr. LIND. I waited there until I saw the one ahead of me registered and then when I registered I asked him what I should do in regards to filing my claim for vocational training.

Mr. REED. Was he personally interested then or did he treat you the same way as the other fellows?

Mr. LIND. They did not treat me any too civil, sir.

Mr. REED. In what way?

Mr. LIND. About the same as I mentioned before. They said sit down; we will take care of you later.

Mr. REED. Were these men you interviewed officers, as far as you know?

Mr. LIND. I could not say whether they were officers or not, sir. Mr. REED. I understood you to say that you did not know that you had the right to appeal?

Mr. LIND. No, sir; I did not.

Mr. REED. Of course, this hearing is had upon specific charges that have been made that call for this hearing. Your charges are practically charges of inexcusable delay and a number of cases are cited and they cite your case here. Mr. Littledale presented these charges before the committee and makes this statement here: "Mr. Lind appealed from this ruling of the board and his appeal was not allowed." Did you tell Mr. Littledale that?

Mr. LIND. told him, a representative that came to me, Mr. Browning, and I saw Mr. Farwell; that is, if I should do anything in regard to making an appeal, and I was not given any advice about it. Mr. REED. You did appeal it?

Mr. LIND. I appealed it through my own efforts without their advice. Nobody told me about it.

Mr. REED. Where did you say that you learned you had the right to appeal?

Mr. LIND. I learned it from men that were disabled.

Mr. REED. You did not get the advice from the Federal board?
Mr. LIND. No, sir; I did not. No advice was given to me.

The CHAIRMAN. Before we excuse you, Mr. Lind, you stated that you were ordered to stand in line. Were there very many in the

room?

Mr. LIND. There were 15 or 20 ahead of me.

The CHAIRMAN. Anyone without legs or arms?

Mr. LIND. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Or anyone that you could see was seriously physically disabled that would have to take a good deal of time? Mr. LIND. Probably there were some. I went up to the desk and was told to go back there and get in line with the rest of them. Probably there were men ahead of me.

The CHAIRMAN. if there were 15 or 20 to be examined ahead of you, that would necessitate a considerable time, would it not? That might account for the four or five hours you had to wait in the office. That would be reasonable, would it not?

Mr. LIND. The way I look at it, these men had been there before and came in to find out about their training. Others probably came in the same as I did the first time.

It is a

The CHAIRMAN. We realize here in Washington that if we go to see somebody we have to stand in line and wait our turn. source of a lot of fretfulness, but we have to stand it.

We are very much obliged to you, Mr. Lind. f you will report to the clerk, he will see that you have your transportation expenses. Let me say to the committee that we have one witness here who left a very ill wife and wants to return and I think the committee ought to hear him.